Cingular's Video Share Service Has Business Side

AT&T Inc.'s Cingular mobile division is pushing its Video Share service at the CTIA Wireless trade show primarily as a consumer service, but the live-video-stream technology will also be supported on enterprise phones and has a place in business, company executives said Wednesday.

Video Share lets a mobile phone caller send a live video stream from the camera on their cell phone to whomever they're calling. The other user will have to be using a phone that supports the service and be in an area where it's offered. The recipient can choose to accept the stream and later reverse it, sending video from their camera to the other caller. The video can also be saved.

Cingular has promoted the service as a "heartstrings" feature for sharing family events such as a baby's first steps. It's one of many new video features being highlighted at the show, including live TV on Verizon Wireless Inc.'s network and content deals between carriers and entertainment companies, such as a new mobile series about videogames that Viacom announced on Wednesday it will be powering for Amp'd Mobile Inc.

But Video Share will be good for more than leisure time, according to Mike Woodward, executive director of mobile professional solutions for Cingular, and it will be offered on a wide range of devices including PDAs (personal digital assistants) and smartphones.

The service has been tested and users have expressed interest in professional uses, Woodward said. For example, it could be used by nurses communicating with doctors or by insurance claims adjusters, he said. Real estate agents and dispatchers might also find it useful, said Cristy Swink, executive director of messaging.

Video Share is scheduled to go live starting in about 50 cities this summer, Swink said. Summer in the U.S. generally refers to June through August. The carrier hasn't given pricing, but as with its other services, the pricing scheme will encourage trial use, pay-per-use and lower cost for larger amounts of use, she said. The service will begin as only mobile-to-mobile but is likely later to become part of AT&T's "three-screen strategy" of using phones, PCs and TVs, she said.